Every single day as a leader you make decisions. Some of them are huge, such as whether or not to move forward and build a new manufacturing plant. Others are small, such as how to give constructive feedback to a subordinate at the end of a project.

A percentage of these decisions are going to be wrong, but leadership requires the willingness to make a decision and stand by it, right?

The answer, unfortunately, is “yes, but…”

Yes, you eventually need to make a decision, but… are you leaving yourself enough room to realize there may be other facts or alternate options you need to consider? 

Yes, but… are you being curious enough to pressure test your own assumptions? 

Yes, but… are you putting your perspective out there in a manner that you are inviting people to disagree with it before you lock in on the conclusion or decision?

Yes, but… are you putting yourself in a position to get other inputs and see if those enhance your view, validate your view or potentially invalidate the conclusion that you have drawn?

You don’t need to do this for every decision, large and small. But when the cost of being wrong is high, it makes sense to increase the odds that your decision will be right. That means testing your assumptions and the information at your disposal. It also means actively seeking out people with different perspectives.

It’s far cheaper to recognize a flaw in your conclusions before you move forward, rather than afterwards. 

In fact, the leaders I know who have the best track record when it comes to decision making employ a process that resembles the “yes, but” approach I’ve outlined here. 

You don’t consistently make good decisions simply by being the smartest person; you do it by using the smartest process.